What’s the Third Option?
I like an honest conversation. It’s the only thing, I believe, that can move us forward.
So when I see Republican candidates like Glenn Youngkin becoming governor on the platform of fighting against the bogeyman of Critical Race Theory, and then other GOP-sponsored laws against “divisive” history, I have to wonder who these voters really are?
American history is complex. It includes innovation, heroics, and moving forward. It also includes racism, oppression, and systematic racism.
So what are GOP voters afraid of?
Ask most people today if America was racist in 1960. It’s an easy answer (Yes), but if they need help, remind them that schools were still de facto segregated, as was housing, but also the 1964 Voting Rights Act had to be passed (over the objections of Conservatives) to ensure voting rights given to African Americans 100 years earlier.
Next, ask when this systemic racism they admit to ended. How? What proof is there?
There is so much evidence that systematic racism exists today, I don’t understand how people can deny it. Just look at the wealth gap between white Americans and Black Americans: $171,000 to $17,000. It’s everywhere.
Yes, things are better than in 1960. We have made progress. But we have also made progress against cancer, and it still exists. As does systemic racism.
So to my question. What’s the third option? Why do you oppose teaching students that this exists? Ignoring the facts of 2022 would be like teaching that 1960 was not racist.
If you don’t see that systemic racism exists, you either 1) are racist; or 2) just don’t know the statistics. I can handle #2. Not #1.
So if you don’t think either applies to you, what’s the third option? I’m open to them because I really hope it’s more about #2.
